


Two Sides of the Same Coin

by AKW_aka_Awkward



Series: Getting Back to Us [3]
Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series)
Genre: Blood, Homophobic Language, M/M, Some slurs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:46:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29119938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AKW_aka_Awkward/pseuds/AKW_aka_Awkward
Summary: A lot has changed in this one.Had to rewrite some things, because my typical writing style wasn't flowing well for this fic. Some things have been taken out and some things have been added. The main plot points are all the same.Summary: At the hospital Daniel starts to figure some things out that he is really not happy about. He just isn't sure how he's going to help these kids.P.S. Please let me know if you like how I did the switches between the POV's. I don't want them to take anyone out of the story. Let me know if you like them, didn't, or if you have an idea for how I could do it better in the future.
Relationships: Demetri & Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz, Demetri/Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz
Series: Getting Back to Us [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2124975
Comments: 11
Kudos: 78





	Two Sides of the Same Coin

**Eli**

Demetri was surprisingly okay. He had a couple of broken ribs, a bruised spleen, a concussion, and lots of bruising and cuts, but he was alive. Eli hadn’t left the chair by his hospital bed in days. 

Eli would wake up with tears in his eyes every night. He would place his hand on Demetri’s chest just to feel his breathing. He almost lost him that day and Eli was going to make sure that never happened again. Looking down at Demetri as he slept Eli couldn’t stop himself from touching him. He needed that constant reminder that Demetri was in fact really there. That he hadn’t actually died in his arms.

He ran his fingers through Demetri’s hair tucking it behind his ear. Eli ran his hand down his best friend’s face, stopping to cup his cheek. Eli placed their foreheads together and let out a shaky breath.

“I’m going to protect you. Always.” Eli knew what he had to do. This would never be over, not as long as Kreese had his claws sunk so deep in those kids that not even a surgeon could get them out. Maybe an exorcist would be a better analogy. Kreese was a demon, a darkness, an infection spreading through the Valley. Someone needed to stop him once and for all. Eli just wasn’t sure how he was going to do that yet.

So, until he figured it out he was just going to enjoy his time with his... Best friend? Crush? First love? Soulmate? Eli hadn’t really figured that one out yet either. As he crawled into Demetri’s hospital bed, making sure to be careful of the wires and IV. He held Demetri as tight as he could without hurting him or waking him up and closed his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4 Days Earlier

**Daniel**

“I can’t believe that they would go this far. They could have killed him!” He was pacing the waiting room. He was pissed. He had already given his statement to the police. Of course, there wasn’t any proof of who did it, but all the kids were saying it had to be some girl named Tory. A kid. Multiple kids. Children had done this! It boggled his mind how it could have gotten this bad. He was all about defense, but maybe defense just wasn’t enough anymore. Most of the kids had given their statements as well. Johnny and Miguel were talking to the police now. Hawk was the only one left. Daniel looked around for the spiky hair. 

What he found made his blood run cold. Hawk was sitting in a chair in the corner staring at his hands. His blood stained hands. He had blood on his face and neck too. The look in his eyes was so vacant that if Daniel didn’t know any better he would say that the kid felt nothing. That he was completely and utterly numb. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the kid to be honest, but he had called him when he found Demetri. Maybe Hawk was trying to reach out. Daniel made his way over to the teen and sat down beside him.

“Hawk?” It was like the kid couldn’t hear him. “Hawk I need you to look at me?” Still no response. The kid wasn’t even blinking.

“It’s no use Dad. We’ve all tried to get him to talk to us. If he wants to stare at nothing just let him.” Sam called from the other side of the waiting room. Daniel made his way over to the rest of the kids. They were all sitting together. Far way from Hawk. He understood their warriness of the kid, but something about it all didn’t sit right with him.

“Do you know what his real name is?” Sam looked confused. 

“No. Hey, does anyone know Hawk’s real name?” They all shook their heads just as confused as Sam was. Obviously Hawk couldn’t be his name. What kind of life did this kid live before Cobra Kai that no one even knew his name? Daniel decided to make it his mission to get to know the boy.

“Do you know who would?”

“I’ll text Moon. She’s his ex.” Finally Daniel would get an answer. After all, how could his ex-girlfriend not know his name. “Moon doesn’t know either.”

“His ex-girlfriend doesn’t even know his name.” Daniel was baffled at how any of this made sense. Was his sole identity just Hawk? Daniel made his way up to the nurses station, trying to get his mind off the mysterious boy with the mohawk.

“Have you gotten a hold of his mom yet?” The nurse knew who Daniel was talking about because he had been asking every couple of minutes for the last two hours.

“No. No one has answered.” He walked back over to Hawk.

“Look kid. I know you don’t want to talk right now, but they can’t get in touch with Demetri’s mom. Do you know any other way to get a hold of someone? His dad or a sibling maybe. They won’t be able to tell us anything without a family member. I don’t know about you, but I really want to know if he’s okay.” That made Hawk look up at him. Finally. Hawk pulled out his phone.

“Can you put it on speaker so I can talk with her?” Hawk looked a little hesitant.

“I don’t think Demetri would like that.” Why wouldn’t Demetri want Daniel to talk to his mom? Why wouldn’t Demetri want his mom to know what was going on with him?

“Please. I’m sure he’ll forgive you.” Hawk still looked unsure.

“After everything you’ve done this is the thing you think he won’t forgive you for. Seriously? It’s not like you could make him any more pissed at you.”

“Samantha?!” Daniel looked at her in disappointment and she quickly looked at the floor. Hawk clicked the call and then the speaker button without a word. It rang a few times.

“ _ Hello. You’ve reached Sunny’s Convenience Store. How can I help you?”  _ The voice on the other end didn’t sound too cheery.

“Hey Becky.” Before Hawk could say anything else Becky cut him off.

“ _ Who the hell is this calling me at work by my first name?! Marco if this is you again I’m going to come over to your house and gut you like a fish.”  _ Daniel could feel everyone’s eyes on them.

“No, it’s Eli.” Eli. Daniel would have to remember that.

“ _ That doesn’t tell me shit. Why the hell are you calling me at work?!”  _ Eli flinched at the sound of her voice. Daniel never noticed how jumpy this kid could be.

_ “ _ It’s about Demetri.”

_ “What the hell did that kid get himself into now? And why couldn’t it have been left in a voicemail?” _ Why did Demetri’s mom sound so annoyed? You’d think she would be at least a little bit concerned that her son’s best friend, who had put Demetri in the hospital mere months ago, was calling her about him.

_ “ _ The hospital called you multiple times. He got jumped.” Daniel was going to let that slide for now, because it was technically the truth.

“ _ What, by you?” _ Becky laughed. Why was she laughing? It was obvious why she wouldn’t like Eli after everything that happened, but your kid being in the hospital wasn’t something to laugh at.

“I’m serious Becky. The nurses won’t tell us anything because we’re not family.”

“ _ Look, Scarface _ .” Eli flinched at the name. Daniel was even more confused and just straight up appalled that any adult would make fun of a child's birth defect. “ _ You’re more his family than I am. _ ” Now Daniel was even more confused.

“Would you just talk to them please?” Eli was begging this woman, who was supposed to be Demetri’s mother, to help them find out if her son was even alive. What the hell kind of parent was she? Johnny and he were going to have to get to the bottom of everything that was going on with Eli and Demetri. Their friendship and their homelives. Just exactly what were these kids going through.

“ _ Fine! Take me up to the nurses station.”  _ Daniel didn’t think he'd ever seen a kid move so fast.

“I have Demetri’s guardian on the phone.” He handed his phone over to the nurse.

“Thank you. Hi this is nurse Jackie. Is this Demetri’s mom?”

“ _ Jesus Christ! I wish people would stop saying that! I am his legal guardian. NOT his mother. Can’t you read whatever paper is in front of your face, because I’m sure as shit it says I’m his guardian.”  _ Daniel noticed Eli seemed to find the counter very interesting. He was shocked by the outburst. He saw Miguel and Johnny had just walked back in and both seemed very confused. He looked around the room and everyone seemed to be just as confused as he was. Did no one know anything about Demetri either? What the hell was going on?

“I’m sorry Miss. We would just like to tell you what’s going on with Demetri.”

“ _ Is he dead?”  _ The nurse looked taken aback. Becky said it with such little emotion. Daniel honestly wasn’t even sure what to say or do at this point. Eli didn’t seem at all surprised by what this Becky said.

“No.” 

“ _ Well then you can tell Freakface everything. That’s his brother. _ ” Did she just hang up? Eli looked smaller than Daniel had ever seen him before.

“That’s me. She was talking about me. I’m Freakface.” Eli lifted his hand to cover up his scar and looked down at his shoes. 

The nurse then hesitantly went on to tell them everything that was going on with Demetri. 

“Who was that on the phone?” Johnny asked.

“Doesn’t matter.” Eli said as he sat back down in his corner. Knees to his chest hiding his face away from the others.

“It definitely does? Who the hell does she think she is talking about you like that.” His daughter was seething as she should be. What adult talks about a kid like that?

“Why the hell do you care Sam?! It never bothered you when your friends did it? None of you even knew my name! Lip, Freak, Scarface, Faggot, Retard! You never cared before! Why now?!” Eli stormed out of the waiting room. Miguel chased after him.

“Eli! Wait!” At least someone knew the kids name.

“Is this true Sam?” Daniel looked at his daughter hoping she would say no.

“I never called him any of those names.”

“But you let your friends do it?” Sam looked down at the floor. Refusing to meet his eyes. “I thought I raised you better than that Sam. Actively being friends with bullies is just as bad as being one.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Maybe you should tell Eli that. Maybe you all should. God knows he’s done plenty of apologizing to all of you for what he’s done. You think I don’t see it. That I don’t hear it. He is actively trying to be a better person and to make up for what he’s done. Can any of you say the same?” Daniel always saw some of himself in Demetri and now he was starting to see it in Eli. If he was really that severely bullied he never stood a chance once Kreese had him in his clutches. Daniel sat down with his head in his hands. He saw Johnny leave. Daniel had a lot to think over.

**Eli**

Eli rushed into the bathroom stall and immediately threw up. He felt disgusting. He should have just stayed with Cobra Kai. Maybe he could have protected Demetri somehow. He knows how stupid that sounds. He knows it probably would have ended up the same way, except he would have been the one to put Demetri here. That thought made him throw up again.

Everything was just too much. He was so caught up in his head he could hear Miguel calling his name, but he couldn’t do or say anyhting. Eli just sat on the floor with his back against the stall wall and sobbed. Miguel sounded so far away. He just kept calling his name, but he didn’t come any closer and he didn’t try to touch him. Eli didn’t like to be touched, except by Demetri.

“Well aren’t you going to fix him.” That was Sensei Lawrence, Eli was sure of it.

“I don’t know what to do?! Demetri was always the one who calmed him down.” Eli had stopped crying, but was having trouble breathing. It was a panic attack. Great, he was having a panic attack on the floor of a hospital bathroom. Oh how the mighty have fallen. “I’m going to go get Mr. Larusso.” He heard Miguel’s shoes squeak as he ran out into the hallway.

He felt someone touch his shoulder. Eli flinched and squeezed himself between the toilet and stall wall. His breathing was getting faster. He knew he needed to calm down. He felt like he was going to die.

“Eli. I know you can hear me. So, I just need you to listen okay.” Sensei Larusson’s tone was soft. Eli managed a quick nod. “I need you to try to breathe slowly. In and out okay.” Eli nodded again. “In, two, three, four, five. Out, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Now think about whatever helps calm you down and continue to breathe with me.” Eli started to think of Demetri sitting on his bedroom floor holding his hands, rubbing circles into the palms with his thumbs. He could almost feel it as he listened to Sensei Larusso count his breaths for him.

After what felt like an eternity, but was in reality only a couple of minutes Eli started to breathe normally again. He opened his eyes.

“Thank you Sensei Larusso.” His eyes shifted around not really focusing on anything for a couple seconds before he focused on his hand. The hand Demetri used to hold. The hand that was still covered in Demetri’s blood. He started to feel nauseous again. He shot up and went to the sink to start washing his hands. He looked in the mirror and paled. Frozen for a moment. Why was there so much blood?

“Let me help you.” Sensei Lawrence came up beside him. He looked away hesitant but nodded. Sensei Lawrence got some paper towel and got it wet with soap and water, then got to work on his face and neck. Eli went back to washing his hands. 

“Let’s go.” He heard Sensei Larusso say. He assumed they left, but was too focused on cleaning off his hands.

After all the blood was gone he still hadn’t said anything.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Eli thinks he’s trying to be comforting , but he’s honestly not sure. He would probably just call him a pussy or something. Their eyes met for a split second and then, without thinking, Eli launched himself into the other man. He felt arms wrap around his shoulders. He could feel himself crying again. “It’s okay kid. I got you.”

“Will you talk to the police with me?” He knew how broken he sounded, but right now he just didn’t care.

“Yeah, kid. Whatever you need.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Present Day

**Demetri**

Demetri woke up very warm. It felt really nice. He looked down and saw that it was because of Eli, who was practically on top of him. He had his head laying on his chest, no mohawk in sight. His hair smelled like strawberries. Demetri put his hand in those beautiful locks and kissed Eli on the forehead. Demetri used his other hand to smooth soothing circles into the palm of Eli’s hand. He wasn’t sure what they were anymore, but that didn’t really bother him at the moment. All that he really knew is that he wanted to live in this moment forever.

**Author's Note:**

> P.S. Please let me know if you like how I did the switches between the POV's. I don't want them to take anyone out of the story. Let me know if you like them, didn't, or if you have an idea for how I could do it better in the future.


End file.
